


Reunited

by DrakeandFisherandFortunes



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Family, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-06 22:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11610312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrakeandFisherandFortunes/pseuds/DrakeandFisherandFortunes
Summary: Set after U4. Nate and Elena are happily married and co-own D&F Fortunes. Pre-Cassie.





	1. Familiar Phone Call

It had gotten chillier than she had thought. Elena felt a cold breeze greet her skin as she struggled through the harsh arboreous terrain. They were on a job in early January, this time on a small island in Nova Scotia, near the infamous Oak Island. Their crew was on the shore, packing up for the day so Nate decided it would be a great idea to explore further inland: which sounded great if it weren’t for the near impassable forest grounds.

She looked up to see an amused Nate staring at her a few meters ahead. He had a mocking half smile on his face.

“What are you staring at?”

“Can’t a man admire his wife in peace anymore?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You forget that I know you. That look is not of admiration, it’s of amusement”

“Fair enough” - he said, reaching out his hand to help her get to where he was - “you look cold”.

She withdrew her hand from his, as if trying to end the subject by ceasing the physical contact between them. “I am not”.

Nate simply crossed him arms and smiled at her. “You have goose bumps”, he pointed out.

Elena smiled and looked away, trying to come up with a good excuse. His wife was a very witty woman, and he loved it when he could make her not know exactly the right thing to say for a change.

He took one step closer, looking at her with a smug grin. “I never thought I’d live to say this.” Elena crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Honey… I told you so”.

Elena threw her head back in laughter. “Wow! That must’ve been very satisfying to you.” She put her hands on his waist.

“It was actually”, he laughed as she hugged him, her head pressing against his chest.]

  
“Well don’t get used to it.” She could feel him chuckle as he leaned down to press a kiss to her neck. She shivered at the contact, and it made her reminisce to when she and Nate first started dating. As they grew closer he showed himself to be a very caring partner: making her breakfast (or at least trying to), giving her great massages or simply holding her when she needed him to. It had been a very pleasant surprise, and definitely one that made her fall in love with him so intensely.

He woke her up from her remembrance by taking a strand of her hair and putting it behind her ear as he kissed her gently. They parted and he was about to kiss her again when she pat him on the chest and started walking:

“Don’t push your luck cowboy” - she turned around - “I’m not forgetting that ‘I told you so.’” - she gave him a mischievous smile. - “Now come on, we gotta keep going. It’s getting colder and _you_ didn’t bring me a jacket.”

Nate chuckled as he followed her. He was a lucky man.

 

* * *

 

 It was almost night time when they went back to meet the crew. They had found traces of a ship wreck, probably from the early expeditions to Oak Island. Mahone Bay was full of small islands like the one they were in, which made it easy for ships to collide. Everything was ready to go, so Nate went ahead and started talking about further investigation along the coast line. The staff was up for it, but they needed to get the paperwork ready first.

Elena (amusingly) watched Nate get impatient as he called the office about renewing the permits. She already knew what they were telling him: it would take a couple of days to get it all cleared up. She was about to approach him when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She looked at the contact’s name and answered happily:

“Hey Sully!”

“Hey darlin’”

She couldn’t help but smile at the familiar voice.

“Long time no see. I was starting to think Sam had gotten you into trouble.”

“Ha! You forget I have years of practice at managing restless kids.”

“Right - she answered, glancing at her now less annoyed husband - So to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You two are in Nova Scotia aren’t you?”

“Yes. We’re staying for longer than expected actually. We found some wreckage outside of our initial permit location.”

“Well, that’s great ‘cause Sam and I are interested in poking around Oak Island and –”

“Are you crazy?”

She heard Sullivan start to form a sentence but didn’t let him continue.

“Sully that so called “money pit” is nothing but a series of traps. Hundreds of expeditioners and so called treasure hunters have scoured that island inch by inch. The whole thing’s nothing but a night time story”.

He hesitated. She knew he didn’t want to have to explain himself any further.

“Yes but everyone’s been focusing on the pit area alone. I do think there might be something hiding on the island, if not the treasure itself than some kind of clue.”

Elena stopped for a bit. Worrying about Sullivan had become a constant in her life. Seeing him get older and stay just as reckless with his ‘business partners’ made her fear the day she and Nate would get a phone call saying he had been _found_ somewhere.

She glimpsed at her husband and unexpectedly felt a weight lift off her shoulders. It hadn’t been an easy journey, but by God was she happy Nate had gotten to this point in his life. In _their_ life. She thought back to all they’d been through: the struggle, the hurt, the mistrust, the lack of communication... Nate turned and she saw the sunshine reflect off of his wedding band. Seeing that little piece of metal represented so much; after all the work they put into their relationship he was there, he was happy, he was _hers_. It was breathtaking.

So, from past experience, she knew there was no point in actually voicing her concerns to Sully. It took so much more than that and he just wasn’t there yet.

“Well I know better than to argue with you about this. Just tell me when you’re coming so we can at least see you before you head off.”

Sully chuckled

“We’re in Nova Scotia already. We’ll be at Mahone Bay tomorrow morning. And there’s someone who offered to come along with us.”

“Oh?” Elena couldn’t guess who it was.

“Chloe Frazer.”

Now for that she wasn’t expecting.

“Chloe? Why would Chloe want to join in on this?”

“Well darlin’ she had a job that fell through, and since word travels fast, she heard I was pairing up with Drake’s ‘long lost brother’ on recovering Oak Island’s mystery treasure. She had to see it for herself. It’s a historical find.”

“Wait, hold on. Historical find? Sully, not once have I seen you care about anything ‘historical’.”

“Ah hell. I do when big money’s involved. And as for Chloe and your brother-in-law you know the drill.”

She knew. In fact, she knew it too well. The obsession, the inability to admit something wasn’t worth the risk, the pride... Whether Sullivan liked it or not, he was in as deep as the rest of them. He might be more cautious than Sam, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t just as ‘obsessed’, it just meant that he had more experience in dealing with it. It was never just about the money; after all there are easier ways to pay the bills.

She saw Nate hang up and approach her with curiosity written all over his face. She raised her eyebrows at him and continued the conversation with Sully:

“One doesn’t differ from the others Victor.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked, changing his tone

“Never mind.” - she sighed. It wasn’t worth it. - “Well alright then, I guess we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“That you will. Nice talking to you sweetheart.”

“Nice talking to you too Sully.”

Elena hung up and looked up to see that Nate’s expression had changed from curious to worried.

“Is everything alright?”

“Oh yes they’re fine. So fine they’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

“What? Why?”

“Apparently they think there’s still something they can find in Oak Island.”

“Oh you gotta be kidding me. Do they have any idea how many expeditions have been made there? How many people have gone crazy over that shit?”

“Yeah well that’s what I tried to tell him, but you know how it is.”

Nate put his hands on his hips and looked away. This was definitely new territory for him. He had never been on this side of the story; everything seemed so obvious. He could see now how it seemed childish to go after some mythical story without any proof or concern for what could go wrong. It felt strange; not that Sully and Sam were doing it but that for the first time in his life _he_ had absolutely no desire to be part of it. When had that happened?

His attention returned to his wife as she sat down on a rock in front of him. He studied her: her beautiful face, her freckles, her messy hair... And it hit him. _She_ had happened to him. It hadn’t been an easy transformation. It wasn’t even something he had realised it was happening until it just... happened. Waking up next to her, hearing her laughter, comforting her; those little things became enormous in his life, so much so that he no longer had room for what kept making him push her away. Now it seemed almost unbelievable that an obsession he had for so long and took up so much space in him could have disappeared completely. She had replaced that emptiness left by his past. She had shown him how to gather all the pieces and make them fit. With her, there was no emptiness left in him; not now that they were doing what they loved  _together_.

“Nate?”

Her voice made him come back to reality.

“You’ve been quiet for a while.” she continued

He sat down next to her

“Yeah sorry. It’s just that... I dunno I was just... Thinking.”

She knew exactly what he was talking about. He was never one to express himself clearly when feelings were involved; she had learned to read his face to know exactly what he meant and what he needed. So, she put her hand on his neck and kissed him.

It was a relatively brief kiss, but intense enough to make both of them a little breathless. When they parted, Nate looked deep into her eyes.

“You know, I love how far we’ve gotten. I love _you_.”

“I love you too cowboy.” she placed her hand on his chest “I guess in the end every bit of it was worth it huh?”

Nate smiled. That was the understatement of the century.

“Yeah. Every bit of it.” - he gave her a quick peck on the lips and stood up. - “Well, we should probably head to the camp” - she got up and took his hand - “it’s getting dark.”

 

* * *

 

Elena followed him suit to where they had set camp. They packed up the rest of their stuff and headed for their boat. As Nate started it and grabbed the ship’s wheel, Elena realised she had forgotten to tell him something.

“Oh honey!”

Nate wasn’t expecting that considerate change in volume and got jump scared, momentarily changing the course of their vessel. He cursed and looked at his wife to see her almost falling down from laughing so hard. He was definitely going to get revenge for that.

“What?” he asked holding his laughter.

“I’m sorry I just forgot to tell you something” - she was half speaking half laughing which only made Nate more amused - “Chloe is joining them.”

He frowned.

“Chloe? Why the hell would Chloe be in on this? Is she driving them off the island?”

“I know I thought it was strange too... But I guess she got curious about the Oak Island mystery as well.”

“Huh. She told me she wasn’t getting on major jobs.”

“Yeah, I remember that. Maybe her wine needs re-stocking?”

Nate chuckled but suddenly put on a serious face.

“Oh, no.”

“What?”

“They’re gonna end up sleeping together aren’t they?”

"Who?"

"Sam and Chloe."

Elena laughed at his concern.

“Well it’s Chloe... And Sam.”

“Oh God” - Nate whined.

“Is it that bad?” - Elena asked while putting her arm around his shoulders.

“It’s not bad... It’s weird. Bad was when you slept with Jeff.”

“What?” - not this again - “I did not sleep with Jeff.” Elena rolled her eyes.

“Psh yeah right.”

“Why do you care anyway?” - she took her arm away from him - “You were sleeping with Chloe.”

Nate looked at her. He knew they were just playing around, but he always felt that was a sensitive subject. They had never really talked about what happened while they were broken up; it’d been so long anyway. And now Nate was feeling guilty; guilty because he never for one second stopped loving her (even when he was with Chloe) and he had never told her that clearly.

“I guess we never really talked about this huh.”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“‘Lena I never stopped loving you. It’s just that we had broken up and-”

“Nate you don't have to explain yourself. I broke up with you” - she said, staring at the bay in front of them.

“Yes. I was a complete child back then. You did good, made me grow and realize I needed you.”

  
She looked up and met his eyes.

“You’re right. It was good to me too. Made me see you were not just a grave robber after all” - she raised an eyebrow at him - “And also that you were going to take some effort to stay with.”

Nate chuckled and she wrapped herself on his left side, resting her head on his chest. He kissed her temple.

“Yeah. Too bad you had to sleep with Jeff to figure that one out.”

She gave him a series of small punches on his ribs:

“I... did... not... sleep... with... Jeff.” - she stopped - “I don’t sleep with people I work with.”

“Ow! You sure punch them a lot.” - she laughed - “But if you don’t sleep with people you work with what exactly were you doing to me then?”

“I’d hardly classify what you did in Panama as ‘work’ Nathan.”

“Wow, that’s just hurtful”

Elena laughed

“Shut up.”

“Yes dear.” - he said, as he steered their boat to head into Chester’s city harbour.


	2. Portraits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the last night before their friends arrive, Elena finds out about an unknown use of Nate's drawing skills.

Elena closed the door as Nate hurried to their bedroom to drop off the bags. They had acquired a habit of renting apartments instead of hotel rooms on their work travels, since it offered them a more ‘homey’ feeling as well as some much appreciated privacy. This one was a small place near the city’s coastline, with a very welcoming ambience. The entire apartment (with the exception of the bathroom) had a light wooden floor, with mostly white and cream coloured furniture.

She walked up to their room to see her husband making a huge mess out of their bags.

“Nate?”

He hastily turned around and (hilariously) tried to cover up their now very messy bed.

“Uh yeah sorry.” – he gave her an adorable smile – “I was just looking for something.”

“Well, can I help?”

“Do you know where my drawing journals are? Because I found two of them but I’m missing my red one.”

She chuckled. She was almost certain he would be capable of forgetting to put on clothes in the morning if it weren’t for her.

“Yeah, Nate, it’s on the left outside compartment of your duffle bag remember? You said you wanted it to be easy to access.”

“Oooh! That’s right!” – he snatched it out of his bag and triumphantly held it up – “Thanks honey.” - he approached her, gave her a quick kiss and started ‘tidying’ everything up.

She decided it’d be clever to help him. “What’s in that journal anyway? I’ve always seen it in your stuff but I’ve never seen you actually drawing on it.”

He shrugged. “Uh ya know… Just some drawings nothing much.”

Huh. ‘Nothing much’, typical. For such a cocky man, Nate sure was humble about his drawing skills. She recalled finding out about this hidden talent of his and being equally surprised and attracted. Over the years he had gotten comfortable around her enough to show her his works, which was something she always appreciated very much.  But now, looking at that specific notebook, she realized it had always been present but she had never seen anything from it.

So, she looked up at him. “Can I see them?”

He stopped folding one of their shirts and picked it up. “Uh… I… I’m not sure.” He sat down on the bed.

She wasn’t expecting that. She sat down next to him and placed her hand on his thigh. She tried to think of subjects he wouldn’t normally talk about. “Is it something from your childhood?”

He frowned and shook his head. “No no no. I’d have no reason not to show you if it were.”

“Then what?”

He shifted and looked at her. He looked almost… _shy_ _._ “It’s not that you can’t see them. I guess it’s just been something I’ve kept for myself…  As a way of reflecting on things. But I don’t think there’s a need for that anymore. Here.” He handed her the journal, looking away.

Up close she could see it was very well made. Red leather coated the covers with a double row of golden stitches framing them. She opened it, but before she read the first page, she glanced up at his face. He was staring intensely at the journal, as if trying to remember every single thing that was in there. She looked back down to find there was only one word written on the first page:

Elena.

“Elena?” – she wasn’t asking him as much as she was thinking out loud.

“Yeah, ‘Elena’. Keep going.” – he sounded uneasy.

She flipped the sheet of paper to find a drawing of herself on each page, with a dried up flower in between. The first one was of her face, and the second one was of her entire body… holding a camera and his old Sir Francis Drake ring.  On the bottom left of the pages were dates.

She looked at him. “These… These are from our El Dorado job.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I started drawing you on the first night after we got back to shore. I didn’t really know why… I remember liking to try and remember everything about you so I could do it properly. I had never seriously drawn people before.”

She flipped through the pages and saw their whole relationship resumed to drawings of her: at first, the main focus was her face; after they slept together he focused more on her body. During the time of their break up, the drawings increased in quantity and were more detailed than ever; she never left his head. The most noticeable change was after the grenade incident in Shambala. The first drawings were dark, almost scary. She looked… dead.

Nate broke the silence. “Those were painful to draw. I drew them while you were recovering in Nepal. I uh… I didn’t know if...” – he turned his head down with his eyes closed and sighed – “I couldn’t think of a happy scenario so… I guess I channeled my worrying into that journal.”

Elena had tears streaming down her face. She had no idea he studied her like this. Every expression, every moment, every look. She hugged him tight, burying her face on his neck. He wrapped himself around her, resting his forehead on her shoulder. After a few minutes, she pulled back and kissed him. He immediately retrieved the kiss, holding her tight against his chest. They parted and Elena lightly traced his facial features with her fingers, stopping to cup his jaw.

“I love you Nate.”

“I love you too ‘Lena.” – if only there were a stronger word to describe what he felt for her. He wiped her tears. – “Now c’mon, keep going. It gets better.”

She flipped some pages and reached another ‘chapter’: her recovery. There were dozens of drawings of different parts of her naked body, as if Nate had been trying to memorize the pattern of her scars. She felt him scoot closer and trace her scars with his hand, kissing her temple.

 _Months_ before he proposed, drawings of her wearing a ring on her left hand appeared. Some just showed her hands, some her whole body, always focusing on her left hand.

She felt him shrug. “I wanted to know what you’d look like.”

She smiled at his need to explain that. “I can’t believe _you_ thought that far ahead.”

He chuckled.

Then, she reached the only part of the journal in which Nate had included himself: their wedding day. He drew the location, her dress, their first kiss as husband and wife, their first dance. The drawings were the happiest so far. He even coloured some of them.

She was astonished. “These are _beautiful_ Nate.”

“Well, you were beautiful that day. I had never seen anything like it.”

She blushed. “You weren’t half bad either mister.” They chuckled.

The drawings dating from the time they were separated over Nate’s leaving to pursue Iram of the Pillars reflected the same level of obsession as the situation. Pages and pages of her face and body, days and days in a row, as if he was trying to convince himself she was still there. She felt his body tense up as she turned the pages. Those times hadn’t been easy for either one of them. She decided not to comment, which came as a relief for Nate. He did not want to dwell on those feelings ever again.

After their reconciliation, the drawings became much more peaceful. Aside from one where she was crying (during the ‘Sam incident’, as he pointed out), they had become portraits of happy, mundane situations. Lots of drawing her in her sleep, smiling, laughing. All the hurt and tears were left behind, much like it had happened outside the journal.

She reached the last drawing. It showed her leaning on their kitchen counter, wearing only one of Nate’s shirts and holding a cup of coffee. She remembered that morning. “This was from two days ago.”

“Yeah. I’ve always thought they looked better on you.”

She chuckled as she closed the journal and handed it back to him. “Thank you for sharing this with me Nate. I know it must’ve been difficult for you.”

He shrugged. “I dunno… It wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be.”

She kissed him softly and got up to rid their bed of the remaining clothes. “How come I never caught you drawing me?”

He took his shirt off and raised an eyebrow at her as he walked to the bathroom. “Heh. I’m a sneaky man.”

And a _hot_ one too, she thought. She picked up the journal and placed it on his nightstand, tracing the stitches with her fingers. Nathan was a very intense man, and having proof on paper that his attention was completely and utterly focused on her for hours straight made her feel like a teenager again.

“Hey.” – he was leaning on the bathroom doorway – “I don’t feel like showering alone y’know.”

She smiled and shamelessly admired her husband’s naked torso. She headed to the bathroom, stopping on the doorway to grab Nate’s arm and pull him in with her.

 

* * *

 

 The shower ended up being quick, both of them in need to lie down after a long day of diving and recording. Nate got under the covers next to his wife, turning his body to her and placing a hand on her waist.

She ran her fingers through his hair. “Interesting day we had.”

He chuckled. “Yes it was.”

For a minute, they just stared into each other’s eyes, reflecting on the emotional weight of the day. Then, their lips found each other.

Who initiated it was hard to tell. One kiss led to another, their bodies grew closer. No words needed saying anymore.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you for reading. I've been a fan of Uncharted and Uncharted fanfics for years and decided to give it a try myself. This is my first attempt at it and English in not my first language so I'd very much appreciate some feedback in the comments.


End file.
